Gigi Aguilera’s new restaurant is just a stone’s throw from downtown Dallas — within walking distance of the Arts District and next door to luxury townhomes.

The Ross Avenue building that for years housed an auto upholstery shop now offers gourmet South American cuisine cooked up by Aguilera and her mother, Joyce Stenvall.

“Our real estate agent found this building,” Aguilera said. “Ross Avenue has a lot of potential, and we felt like it was a good time to come in.”

For decades, mostly what Ross Avenue had to offer was used car lots and seedy dives.

But the thoroughfare running east from downtown is starting a makeover, thanks to construction in the Arts District and a splash-over of development from nearby Uptown.

Apartment developer Trammell Crow Residential is working on plans for a whole block of luxury rental units at Ross and McCoy Street. A vacant building, an auto repair shop and a chapel now occupy the property.

“The city passed an ordinance along Ross Avenue in 2005 to encourage a mix of uses — including residential — walkability and density,” Bancroft said. “It has taken a few years to take hold, but the continued expansion of the Arts District and the success of recently developed multifamily properties in the neighborhood have proven up the residential market.”

The planned Crow Residential project is a block east of where developer JLB Partners built its Icon at Ross Apartments at Ross and Hall.

The four-story, 372-unit rental project, which opened last year, has been a big hit with renters and leased up ahead of schedule.

Welcome additions

Residents in the area welcome the addition of apartments and retail space.

“We are happy to see those apartments come in,” said Eric Williamson, president of the Bryan Place Neighborhood Association. “We definitely want to see the redevelopment.”

And Bryan Place residents are hoping for more restaurant and retail locations along Ross, just like the new Joyce and Gigi’s Kitchen.

“That’s the stuff that’s really nice and something the neighborhood can walk to,” Williamson said. “Everybody agreed that the old auto shops needed to go.”

Auto repair shops and small industrial businesses added to the mix along the avenue.

City officials have long hoped that Ross would eventually become a more attractive entryway to downtown and the Arts District.

“The redevelopment of Ross Avenue is a direct result of the rezoning effort led by my predecessor, Veletta Lill, which encourages mixed use, residential development and urban design elements,” said Dallas council member Angela Hunt.

And the new apartment construction is part of the increased demand for close-in housing,

“People are tired of long work commutes and want to be part of what’s becoming an incredibly vibrant community in downtown Dallas,” she said.

With hundreds of residential units coming along Ross, you can expect retailers to follow.

That’s what Carlisle Interests expects with its new shopping center at Ross and Annex Avenue. The 10,000-square-foot retail strip is already under construction.

“It used to be an old abandoned car lot,” said Carlisle’s John Dickey. “We think it’s a good location and up and coming.”

Carlisle’s most recent commercial projects have been near Love Field and along Lemmon Avenue.

Broker Daniel Rivas of the Weitzman Group said there is interest from prospective merchants on several retail properties he is marketing along Ross.

“Parking is an issue” at some of the properties, though, Rivas said.

He said potential tenants include “several small grocer and health food types.”

But Rivas worries that investors might drive up the property prices along the street too fast.

Not wanting to budge

Longtime Ross Avenue business folks aren’t surprised at the redevelopment and say things are moving fast.

Bill Woodard, whose family owns the Woodard Paint and Body Shop at 3515 Ross, said city leaders and investors want the area to gentrify.

“I know that they are thinking that with the Arts District, Ross Avenue is going to be like the Park Lane of New York,” said Woodard. “They are trying to upgrade everything.”

City officials had tried to force the Woodards out of their property, but the family business was given a reprieve.

“My repair business has been in business since 1920. For someone to come along and say they don’t want you here anymore is not fair,” Woodard said.

But he concedes that “all the apartments they have built have certainly been an improvement to the community.”

The Woodard shop is one of the buildings that Crow Residential plans to buy for its new apartment project, but “there are still some loose ends,” Woodard said.

He hopes that more retailers will move into the neighborhood with the apartment renters.

“As far as I’m concerned, we need more business,” Woodard said. “There is no cleaners or a shoe shop — there are a lot of things they’re not getting here.